Electronic Briefing Books

Animated graphic depicting the devastating effects of a 300 kiloton nuclear airburst over the Pentagon, from "'It is certain there will be many firestorms': New Evidence on the Origins of Overkill," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 108.

New Documents
"The Impulse towards a Safer World"
40th Anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
Posted - July 1, 2008

 

The "Nuclear Vault" includes all previous and forthcoming Archive Electronic Briefing Books on nuclear weapons policy, cross-referenced with an index. It also includes newly-declassified documents that may be of interest to novices and experts alike.

Click here for the complete index of National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Books.

 

China

The Chinese Nuclear Weapons Program

China, Pakistan, and the Bomb

The United States and the Chinese Nuclear Program, 1960-1964

U.S. Intelligence on Russian and Chinese Nuclear Testing Activities, 1990-2000

 

France

U.S. Intelligence and the French Nuclear Weapons Program

 

India

India and Pakistan -- On the Nuclear Threshold

U.S. Intelligence and the Indian Bomb

 

Israel

In 1974 Estimate, CIA Found that Israel Already Had a Nuclear Stockpile

Israel and the Bomb

Israel Crosses the Threshold

 

Japan

New Documents on Okinawa Reversion

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Deployments in Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima

U.S. Nuclear Weapons and Okinawa

 

North Korea

North Korea and Nuclear Weapons

 

Pakistan

China, Pakistan, and the Bomb

India and Pakistan -- On the Nuclear Threshold

 

Russia and Former Soviet Union

U.S. Intelligence on Russian and Chinese Nuclear Testing Activities, 1990-2000

 

South Africa

U.S. Intelligence and the South African Bomb

 

Taiwan

U.S. Opposed Taiwanese Bomb during 1970s

New Archival Evidence on Taiwanese "Nuclear Intentions", 1966-1976

 

U.S. Arms Control and Nuclear Proliferation Concerns

"The Impulse towards a Safer World"
40th Anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

The Making of the Limited Test Ban Treaty, 1958-1963

Missile Defense 30 Years Ago: Deja Vu All Over Again?

The Secret History of the ABM Treaty, 1969-1972

1960s "Nth Country Experiment" Foreshadows Today's Concerns Over the Ease of Nuclear Proliferation

 

Cold War Crises

First Strike Options and the Berlin Crisis, 1961

The October War and U.S. Policy

The Submarines of October: U.S. and Soviet Naval Encounters During the Cuban Missile Crisis

 

Command and Control and Warning

Eisenhower and Nuclear Predelegation

Launch on Warning

Newly Declassified Documents on Advance Presidential Authorization of Nuclear Weapons Use

U.S. Presidents Predelegated Nuclear Weapons Release Authority to Military Commanders

 

National Security Policy

"Prevent the Reemergence of a New Rival": The Making of the Cheney Regional Defense Strategy

 

Nuclear Deployments and Delivery Systems

How Many and Where Were the Nukes?

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Deployments in Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima

United States Secretly Deployed Nuclear Bombs In 27 Countries and Territories During the Cold War

 

Nuclear Intelligence

The Chinese Nuclear Weapons Program

China, Pakistan, and the Bomb

India and Pakistan -- On the Nuclear Threshold

U.S. Intelligence and the Indian Bomb

National Intelligence Estimates of the Nuclear Proliferation Problem

The U.S. Atomic Energy Detection System (AEDS)

U.S. Intelligence and the French Nuclear Weapons Program

U.S. Intelligence on Russian and Chinese Nuclear Testing Activities, 1990-2000

U.S. Intelligence and the South African Bomb

The United States and the Chinese Nuclear Program, 1960-1964

The Vela Incident: Nuclear Test or Meteorite?

 

Nuclear Threats and Nuclear Use

Air Force Histories Show Cautious Presidents Overruling Air Force Plans for Early Use of Nuclear Weapons

The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II

"Consultation is Presidential Business"

Nixon's Nuclear Ploy

 

War Plans and Planning

The Creation of SIOP-62

"It Is Certain There Will be Many Firestorms"

"To Have the Only Option That of Killing 80 Million People is the Height of Immorality"

U.S. Planning for War in Europe, 1963-64